


Office Lunch

by luckydip



Category: Dead Like Me
Genre: Afterlife, Christmas, Christmas Party, Gen, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28182219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckydip/pseuds/luckydip
Summary: Is there anything worse than an office Christmas party? You’ve got a bunch of people who are already forced to spend forty hours a week together for the sake of a minimum wage paycheck, and somehow think that paper hats and mass catered sandwiches will make that company more tolerable?
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Office Lunch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fluorescencx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluorescencx/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide fluorescencx! I hope you enjoy this. :)
> 
> Thanks to R for the spagbeta.

Is there anything worse than an office Christmas party? You’ve got a bunch of people who are already forced to spend forty hours a week together for the sake of a minimum wage paycheck, and somehow think that paper hats and mass catered sandwiches will make that company more tolerable?

I’d think that this was hell, ya know, if I wasn’t already dead and knew I hadn’t got there yet. 

The one saving grace in all this was that Happy Time management was to pay out to hire a space so we were having a Christmas lunch. At least I wasn’t going to be forced to make small talk about people’s private lives in my off hours. 

‘Millie!’ Hearing about Rob from accountings Christmas plans, including a complete rundown of every Christmas tradition that they adhered to was so painful that I was glad to hear Dolores’s voice. Although at least Rob hasn’t asked why I wasn’t seeing my family over the holidays. The AA excuse and the different lies I told to people were gonna come back to bite me in the ass one day and I didn’t think Rob wanted to know the truth. 

‘Hi Dolores.’ I gave her a big Happy Time smile that was only thirty percent fake, if only because I was glad she was getting me out of this conversation. 

‘Millie.’ She was drawing out the word. That wasn’t good. ‘Where’s your Christmas sweater?’

Still on the rack at the store? I had never been a team player, and I was definitely not going to start with the light up Christmas tree monstrosity that Dolores had recommended yesterday. Still, I needed the payslip so stuck out my lower lip and tried to look sad. ‘I tried Dolores, but they’d sold out by the time I got there.’ 

‘Oh no!’ Was Dolores actually pouting? ‘Don’t you worry, I have just the thing for you.’ She rushed out of the room and my mind was thrilled with picture after picture of what nightmare Dolores could have come up with. Her own Christmas themed sweater had a cat dressed as santa on the front and I crossed my fingers, desperately hoping she wasn’t going to turn up with a spare one of those. It was only a couple of minutes later when Dolores strode back into the conference room with a pair of fuzzy reindeer antlers. Ok then, those I could handle. ‘Thanks Dolores.’ I gave her my best smile as I put them on.

‘Next year we will need to get you your own, dear. Don’t want you missing out!’ 

Oh no. We definitely wouldn’t want that.

Over Rob’s shoulder I could see someone familiar loitering around the entrance. If he kept turning up at work, someone was going to start making a connection between us. And I wanted to think that if I was looking for a boyfriend, I could do a little better than someone who took a power tool to his own skull.

‘What are you doing here, Mason?’ I hissed as I got closer. 

‘You wound me, Georgie. Can’t I come and spread some festive cheer with an old friend?’

‘We met less than a year ago.’

‘Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to. You really upset me, I thought I’d come and help you liven up the party.’ He glanced over at the conference room. ‘Looks like you need it.’

‘It’s an alcohol free event.’

Mason looked visibly pained at the idea. ‘Why would they put you through that sober?’ As if to make a point, he pulled a hip flask out of his pocket and took a swig. 

‘Are you _trying_ to get me fired?’ 

‘Millie, are you alright?’ Dolores appeared at the door. 

‘I’m fine Dolores. I just need to take my friend here to a meeting; he finds it especially difficult around the holidays.’ At least I knew I could rely on Mason to ham it up and play along as I whispered to Dolores ‘His mom died.’ 

Her face crumbled into sympathy and I could see the moment she gave in. ‘Well ok, but make sure you’re back soon – we wouldn’t want you to miss the secret santa.’ 

I missed a great many things in both my life and afterlife – but I was fairly certain the Happy Time secret santa wasn’t going to go down as one of my biggest regrets. ‘Of course not, Dolores.’

Once we got into the lift I turned to Mason. ‘So why did you turn up at Happy Time?’

‘Rube’s called a meeting. Everyone to Der Waffle Haus.’ 

‘I didn’t get a call.’ Or been told about it. I’d seen Rube not five hours earlier when we met for breakfast.

Mason shrugged. ‘You were at work, which is why he sent me to get you.’ 

Because it wasn’t like we had phones at Happy Time or anything. At least I could rely on Rube not to make a big deal about this – large displays of emotion were definitely not his thing. Christmas was all about family and warm fuzzy feelings, and I didn’t even know if Rube had ever had a family. Had he always been so closed off that no-one had got close, or had there been people that he loved? And somehow losing them had hurt him enough that he wouldn’t open up to any others.

Either way, the Happy Time lunch had actually made me kinda hungry, I could definitely go for some waffles while we heard whatever Rube had gathered us for. 

While I expected reaper time to be holiday-free, Der Waffle Haus had not such luck. They had fully embraced the season with lights and tinsel in every available nook and cranny. Even Kiffany was adorned with tinsel. 

Heading to our normal booth, I slid into a seat, perusing the menu as if it might have changed in the few hours since I’d last sat here. There was a splutter from Mason next to me, but I ignored it in favor of picking out my dessert.

‘How you doing there, Peanut.’ I look up to see Rube, his face as serious as normal but that wasn’t what caught my attention. Instead it was the bright green and red sweater he was wearing with ‘Happy Holidays’ emblazoned across the front.

You had got to be shitting me.


End file.
